Be Mine, Valentine
by lateBloomer04
Summary: Jack and Ana's eleven year-old daughter Sammi Sparrow struggles to express her feelings for her best friend William Turner the Third. Willabeth, Sparramaria, and dare I say it - Wammi. Goes along with AMTHGF. Happy V-Day!


Disclaimer: Will, Jack, Elizabeth, Ana and William don't belong to me. They are the property of Disney, Gore, Jerry, Ted, and Terry. Sammi Sparrow, however, does!

A/N: So apparently V-Day is upon us tomorrow, so I decided to write a oneshot about the budding friendship of Sammi and William Turner III. This will go along with AMTHGF of course, set when Sammi and William are both eleven. Which means it's during the middle of the 'time jump', between chapters 30 and 31. But you don't have to have read AMTHGF to appreciate this. And before you ask, yes St. Valentine's Day was around back then. Scholars have found evidence of V-Day cards dating back to the 1400s, and there are even V-Day ties to the Romans. Did kids in the 1700s give each other cards at school like they do in America today? Probably not. But you can pretend, right? Enjoy!

333

Be Mine, Valentine

Sammi Sparrow stifled a yawn as her teacher, Miss Dijon, droned on and on about the concept of division. At eleven, she knew perfectly well how to divide, thank you very much! But some of her classmates were still having trouble with it, so their teacher was devoting their hour long math lesson to review. She glanced around the stark schoolhouse room and found about half the students frantically scribbling as they took notes. Judging from their glassy eyes and blank stares, the rest of the students looked as bored as she felt. Glancing over at best friend William Turner, Sammi watched as he meticulously worked on his sketch of the _Black Pearl_. Like her, William had already mastered the concept of division and was occupying his time the best way he knew how. Which gave her an idea…

Sammi took out a spare sheet of paper and dipped her quill into the inkwell. Peeking over at William, she was relieved that he didn't glance her way for he was very much engrossed in his drawing. Good. Normally Sammi would want to pass notes to William, but today was different. She had a little project of her own that she would rather work on, but only if William kept his eyes to himself.

Tomorrow was St. Valentines's Day, and Sammi hadn't thought about what she would put in her card to her best friend. Last year she'd thanked William for his friendship and company, but that just wouldn't do this time around. Sammi really wanted to spill her budding romantic feelings to William, but she was too afraid (for once) to act on impulse. What if he reacted badly to the news? After all, William had just told her that he thought girls as a whole were gross just last week. However she knew that William saw her as more than just a girl. She was the only one who was allowed to call him Will, as long as his father wasn't around. She was the only one that he'd asked to sleep next to him that awful night he was informed by his father that he was immortal. She was the only one that ever glimpsed his vulnerabilities. But how good of a friend did William consider her to be? Would he be open to the possibility of them becoming more than friends? Those were questions that she had lost a bit of sleep over as she mulled them over.

Sammi had concluded that at this time in their lives, William most likely wouldn't reciprocate her feelings. She told herself that she was fine with that. Now that Sammi had figured that out, she could design a plan of action. Instead of embarrassing herself and putting a strain on their friendship by writing a heartfelt declaration of undying love, Sammi would write something nondescript. However, she was planning on sending William a message that implied that she could possibly harbor feelings for him. The problem was that Sammi had no idea how to find the words to say what she wanted. Feeling frustrated, she decided to doodle while the words came to her.

Jack Sparrow's firstborn was careful not to blot the ink as she connected the quill to the page. In flowing cursive script, she wrote _Mrs. Sammi Turner_. She felt like giggling as she tried out William's last name as hers. Sammi found that she rather liked how it looked, but she thought that 'Sammi' made her sound too young. So this time she substituted her given name instead, along with her middle name which resulted in _Mrs. Samantha Maria Turner_. _Hmm_, she thought. _It's missing something, but what?_ She tried something completely new, scribbling out _Mrs. William Turner the Third_. Wrinkling her nose, Sammi frowned at the paper. That was much too formal for her taste! Rearming herself with ink, she tried a different variation. _Samantha Maria Sparrow Turner _– that was much better. At least this time she got to keep the 'Sparrow' in her name. Sammi was proud of her heritage as a Sparrow, and wasn't in a hurry to give up her last name, even for someone like William.

By the time the review session was over, Sammi had filled the entire page with different signatures and ways to say her name combined with Turner. She had also tried out her new initials, _S.S.T. _Then she had ventured into the realm of little hearts and inscriptions such as _S.S. loves W.T. forever_! Ten minutes before Miss Dijon asked for the class to pack up and prepare to go home for the day, Sammi had finally decided on her preferred grownup name. _Captain Sammi Sparrow-Turner; _now that was absolutely perfect! She embellished and darkened the script to where it stood out among the others at the bottom of the page. Unfortunately Sammi was no closer to deciding on an appropriate Valentine's Day message for William now than she'd been before, but she'd had fun doodling nonetheless. She spent the remainder of the time daydreaming about what life would be like if she and William ended up together.

Sammi could just picture the two of them sailing around the world on her ship, having adventures whenever they liked. Her parents hadn't needed to get married, for they had made their own special commitments according to the pirate lifestyle. But William's parents had gotten married, and Sammi was positive that William would want to marry the love of his life as well. Sammi didn't believe marriage to be necessary when you were a pirate, but if William insisted then Sammi would be more than willing to marry him in the eyes of God. How she would love to duplicate the famed wedding of his parents! Sammi could just imagine Captain Barbossa marrying her and William in the midst of a sea battle as Calypso's maelstrom swirled around them, soaking them to the skin. And then for their honeymoon, how romantic would it be to be dropped off on a deserted island with only food, water, and William to entertain her for an entire week…

"What's that you've been working on?" Sammi jumped in her seat as she heard William's question. She took a quick sweep of the room and found it to be devoid of anyone but herself and her best friend. Funny, she hadn't heard her classmates get up and leave.

"Nothing," she replied casually as she tried to discreetly stick the paper into her bag. Perhaps William would let it go and leave her be.

"Come on, let me see," he begged. _No such luck_, Sammi thought with a wry smile.

"You can see it tomorrow, Will," she placated him. William's face grinned as her understood the implications of her statement. He thought that she'd been working on his card, which technically she had been. But there was no way that she would let William see that incriminating piece of paper! "So have you finished my card yet?"

"Uh…" William fished for an excuse as they headed out of the schoolhouse. Sammi hadn't expected him to have finished it, as she hadn't started hers. She teased him about waiting until the last minute and he teased her back for working on hers during school. Before Sammi knew it, they had reached the part in the road where she veered left and he veered right.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Sammi," said William, his honey eyes sparkling with anticipation.

"I wouldn't miss it," she promised as he departed for home. Sammi bit her lip to stop a girly sigh from escaping as she watched William's lanky form disappear down the road. She _really_ needed to avoid looking directly into his eyes in the future, as getting lost in them turned her into a sappy mess. Frustrated with herself, she marched the rest of the way home.

"Sammi!" Her mother greeted her with an exhausted grin. Anamaria Sparrow had her hands full, literally, as she was holding her squirming youngest daughter, Eva. "How was your day?" Sammi was about to respond when her brother beat her to it.

"Mum, mum, I need to show you something!" Teague whined as he pulled on her right arm. Ana rolled her eyes.

"He's been doing this all day. Usually he has to figure out what he wants to show me first, which could take awhile. Still, I'd better see what he wants," she apologized. "We'll talk later, okay?"

"Okay," said Sammi, relieved that she wouldn't have to spill her guts to her mother just yet. "I'll be in my room!"

She climbed the stairs, ran down the hall and inside her bedroom, and shut the door. As her mother was presently occupied, now was the perfect time to work on her card! Sammi sat down at her desk, and started with a clean sheet of paper. She wrote the first thing that came to mind. _William, I would wait ten years for you._ No, that was much too obvious, not to mention that would sound ridiculous coming from her, the class tomboy. She hurriedly scratched it out. _William, you complete me._ No, that was much too cliché. It took her about ten tries to come up with something halfway decent.

_Will, _

_As we grow older I just want you to remember this: As long as you will have me, I will remain by your side. _

_-Sammi_

That would get the job done nicely, she decided. The message could be interpreted as she just wanted to be best friends forever, but it could also imply she wanted to be more than friends in the future. Cheered at the though of accomplishing what she'd deemed impossible earlier that day, Sammi drew stick figures of a boy and girl holding hands on the blank part of the card. She knew that William was an extremely visual person, so if the words didn't convey what she wanted to get across, she hoped that her picture would. Finally finished, Sammi went downstairs while the ink was drying. (She planned to use her father's seal on it later that night.)

Miraculously, Sammi found her brother and sister napping in the living room. She tiptoed past her siblings, and met her mother in the kitchen. Sammi filled her mum in about what she'd been doing in her room, telling her exactly what she'd written in William's card.

"Do you think it sounds too obvious?" Sammi worried. Ana shook her head.

"It all depends on how William interprets it. There's nothing definitive about the message, or your feelings for him."

"Good, that's what I was going for," Sammi said with relief.

"I'm sure William will love it," her mother smiled. "But if he doesn't get what you're really trying to say, you can always try again next year." Sammi shrugged.

"I want him to know how I feel, but then again I don't. Argh! This is so confusing!" Ana laughed at her daughter's dramatic antics.

"Love is always confusing, even when you're a grownup. _Especially_ when you're grownup," her mother added in an afterthought, remembering how Jack had almost left her to be immortal when she was pregnant with Sammi. Luckily he'd seen the error of his ways and had come crawling back to her, asking for her forgiveness. Ana had forgiven him, of course, and they were still together and madly in love eleven years later.

"Fabulous," Sammi groaned. Just then, little Teague burst into the kitchen at the most opportune moment. It was soon apparent to both Sammi and Ana that he'd been eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Sammi loves William, Sammi loves William," he cried in a singsong voice.

"I don't _love_ him!" Sammi protested. "You shut it, Teague!" The mini incarnation of Jack Sparrow smirked at his sister.

"Make me!" He exclaimed, and then stuck his tongue out at her.

"I will!" Sammi vowed, and ran to tackle her brother to the ground. However, Teague was too fast for her and darted back into the living room.

"Just don't break anything," Ana called unconcernedly from the kitchen as sounds of her children chasing each other around the house reached her ears.

333

Sammi had effectively silenced Teague when she caught him, but when Jack came home that night, her brother spilled the entire story while they were eating dinner.

"So you love young William, eh?" Jack teased, even though he was already certain of it.

"Father, please," sighed Sammi. She really wasn't in the mood to discuss this with her father, of all people. "William and I are just friends – that's all!"

"Uh huh," Jack said knowingly. "So if you're just friends, is it alright with you if I ask William if-"

"So, did you get Mum's Valentine's Day gift yet?" Sammi interjected. She vividly remembered last year's Valentine's Day when Jack had completely forgotten to give his life-partner a gift. This had resulted in a slap on Jack's cheeks courtesy of Ana, in front of Sammi, William, and the Turners. Ana was not happy that Elizabeth had received a golden heart pendant from Will and she hadn't even gotten a card from Jack.

"I did," said Jack with a big grin. "It's docked in the largest berth of our harbor."

"Jack, you can't give me the _Pearl_," said Ana, rolling her eyes. "You try that every year! It's already half mine anyways."

"True enough," Jack agreed. "But I wasn't referring to the _Pearl_, love."

"What do you mean?" Ana asked, the confusion evident on her pretty dark features. "Jack?!" She had to prod the pirate to explain himself, for he seemed to be enjoying her befuddled state a little too much.

"I decided to buy you a boat to make up for the one that I stole all those years ago," said Jack.

"You bought me a boat?" Ana said weakly. Jack nodded, looking ever smug at her stunned reaction.

"Well, compared to the _Pearl_ she's quite small, but you can use her when the _Pearl_'s not here or-" Ana shut Jack up by using her favorite and most effective method to date – she kissed him.

"I can't believe it, Jack, my own boat," Ana enthused after she pulled away. "You never have gotten me much of anything for Valentine's Day!"

"I know, but I figured I needed to make up for last year," Jack said with a sheepish grin. "I hope you'll like her, Ana. When do you want to go down to the harbor and see her?"

"How about right now?" Ana suggested.

"I was hoping you would say that, love," said Jack with a smirk.

"We can all go," Ana continued. "I'll bet that the children would love to-"

"Actually I was thinking that just the two of us could go," Jack clarified. Ana shrugged.

"Ok. Sammi, watch your brother and sister – we'll be right back."

"Actually, I was thinking that we could spend the night there," Jack clarified even further.

"Jaaaack," Ana sighed. "We can't leave the children here by themselves."

"Sure we can," he argued. "Sammi's watched them for extended periods of time before and nothing serious happened."

"Yes, but never at night," Ana reminded him.

"Don't worry, Mum, I can handle it," Sammi assured her. "Father and I have been over what to do for Teague and Eva already. And if I need anything, Will and Elizabeth are just a minute away."

"You've been planning this from the beginning," Ana accused Jack, but she was smiling.

"Yep," answered Jack. "And now that we've established that, let's go!" With only minor cajoling, Ana was convinced to go along with Jack to their pre-Valentines Day one night romantic getaway. She didn't have to pack a thing, as Jack had already brought everything they would need down to the boat earlier that day.

"Jack Sparrow, you are the most wonderful, thoughtful man," Ana sighed, throwing her arms around him. "I would go on, but…"

"You don't want to inflate my head further," Jack finished. They grinned at each other, for it was a long standing joke between them. "Well, we'd better get going."

"Thank you for doing this, Sammi," Ana said as she kissed her daughter goodnight.

"No problem," Sammi said smoothly, as she hugged her father. As she watched her parents say goodnight to her siblings, Sammi thought, _I hope whoever I end up with cares about me as much as Father cares about Mum. _To be fair, she was also thinking, _babysitting overnight for my parents on their getaway will amount to excellent leverage someday._

333

The next day, Sammi's parents strolled in just as she woke up. Jack thanked her again, reporting that the night had been a success. Ana couldn't stop gushing about her boat, which made Sammi rather curious to see just what it looked like. After she finished her breakfast, Sammi headed out to meet William but not before she double-checked her bag to make sure his card was still there.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Sammi!" William called as they drew nearer.

"The same to you, Will," Sammi said with a genuine smile, her trademark smirk absent. Sammi caught herself staring into his eyes again, and quickly recovered by launching into the story of the new boat that her mother had just recently acquired.

By the time they arrived at school, they were met by a frenzy that is Valentine's Day drama. Thirty students were trying to deliver valentines at once, and several girls were sulking as they confessed to their friends that their crushes rejected them this year. Sammi gulped as she pulled out William's card from her bag, gave it to him before she changed her mind, and went to pass out her generic cards.

333

At the end of the school day, Sammi was finally allowed to open her cards. Miss Dijon had given them the last ten minutes of class to sift through their piles of valentines, and Sammi wasted no time trying to find William's. She came upon his neat handwriting written on a card in the middle of her stack, and tore the seal open. Inside was William's message and Sammi reminded herself not to hope for too much. She quickly read her best friend's words to herself.

_Sammi,_

_Roses are red, violets are blue, you know how to swordfight, so I love you! Thanks for being the best friend I could ever ask for. _

_-Will_

Sammi sighed, rolling her eyes at William's corny poem. He'd been using the same 'roses are red' standby for years, only changing the third line to something different. She'd been a fool to hope for something more than an affirmation of their friendship and a 'humorous' message.

"Did you like it?" William asked, who had been watching her closely. She nodded.

"Thanks, Will."

"I mean it," William said seriously. "I'll never find a better friend than you in anyone." Sammi bit her lip to keep from screaming her frustration at him. That wouldn't be fair – William had just paid her the highest compliment any friend could receive and she wanted to yell at him? What was wrong with her!

"Did you read mine yet?" Sammi asked him once she'd regained her self control.

"Yes," said William.

"Did you like it?" She asked.

"It's nice - thanks," was all that William said.

"I'm sorry my picture wasn't up to your standards," Sammi said with a wink. This wasn't so bad, faking that she was disappointed in his reaction. If she played it off well enough, William would never know that something was bothering her. William chuckled.

"That's alright. Maybe next year your can play me a song or something on your guitar to make up for it," he teased as he gathered up his cards.

"Maybe," Sammi said, brightening at the thought. Inwardly, she thought that this was exactly what she was going to do. She had an entire year to learn a song to play for William, and to try again to express her feelings. _Who knows, perhaps William might stop thinking that girls are gross by this time next year?_ Cheered at the thought, Sammi stuffed the rest of her valentines into her bag and followed William out of the school house door. She had William's friendship, which was more than any other girl could say. That would be more than enough for now.

333

That night, Will and Elizabeth went through their son's valentines after they put their three children to bed. Elizabeth's curiosity had gotten the better of her, for she was looking for one card in particular.

"I found it!" Elizabeth exclaimed, tugging on Will's arm as she produced Sammi's valentine. "Let's see what it says." Will raised his eyebrows as he read Sammi's card.

"That's a bit forward for her to say at eleven, don't you think?"

"Will!" Elizabeth laughed, bopping him on the arm. "I think it's sweet. Besides, William doesn't know what she means, even though she drew him a picture!"

"That's true," Will agreed. "I'm afraid we Turner males are rather clueless when it comes to love."

"But somehow I managed to love you anyway," Elizabeth affirmed. "You learned, didn't you?"

"Eventually," said Will with a grin. "But if she still likes him when she gets older, Sammi is going to have to take the direct approach, or else William isn't going to understand what she means." Elizabeth giggled, and pulled her husband in for a kiss.

"I can just see them together years from now," she sighed dreamily. "They would be so perfect for each other, Will."

"I think so too," said the former captain with a smile. "But it may not happen, Elizabeth."

"I know," she pouted. "But if Ana and I have anything to say about it..." She trailed off, her matchmaking intentions left unsaid.

"I know the real reason why you want William and Sammi to end up together," Will whispered hotly into her ear as he pulled Elizabeth into a warm embrace. He picked her up easily, planning to carry her upstairs and give her the last in the series of small Valentine's Day presents.

"Oh? What's that?" Elizabeth whispered back. Will gave her a cheeky grin.

"You just want Ana and Jack for in-laws."

333

A/N: Have a great Valentine's Day, everyone! Spread the love and all that jazz. Wammi (William & Sammi) has arrived! Hooray! Thanks to my HtR buddies who coined the term. The new chapter for AMTHGF should be up sometime this weekend.


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